With 189 member countries, staff from more 170 countries, and offices in over 130 locations, the World Bank Group is a unique global partnership: five institutions working for sustainable solutions that reduce poverty and build shared prosperity in developing countries.

Experts And Leaders

The World Bank Group works in every major area of development. We provide a wide array of financial products and technical assistance, and we help countries share and apply innovative knowledge and solutions to the challenges they face.

Country Groups

Global data and statistics, research and publications, and topics in poverty and development

We face big challenges to help the world’s poorest people and ensure that everyone sees benefits from economic growth. Data and research help us understand these challenges and set priorities, share knowledge of what works, and measure progress.

Supporting Recovery and Reducing Vulnerability to Natural Disasters in Haiti

The Emergency Recovery and Disaster Management Project improved disaster preparedness and reduced vulnerability at the local level in Haiti. The project established 76 Communal Civil Protection Committees (CCPC), covering more than half of the 144 communes. In addition, the project successfully implemented 130 small-scale disaster mitigation works, based on community-based disaster risk assessments.

Challenge

In 2005, Haiti was emerging from a period of political conflict. The country was facing tremendous development challenges, including high exposure and vulnerability to natural hazards. Widespread poverty, extensive deforestation and overall land and watershed degradation further exacerbated the country’s vulnerability.

One year earlier (May 2004), flash floods and landslides in Belle-Anse and Fonds-Verrettes affected more than 100,000 people and claimed more than 1,000 lives. Storm Jeanne (September 2004) caused flash floods affecting 300,000 people in the region between Cap Haïtien, Port-de-Paix and Gonaïves. More than 3,000 people died as a result of the flooding.

Solution

Although the project was prepared as an emergency project, it aimed to balance structural and non-structural interventions to address the country’s high vulnerability to natural disasters. The structural interventions focused on the rehabilitation of drainage and irrigation systems, schools, health clinics and community centers affected by flooding—initially in Fonds-Verrettes, Belle-Anse and Gonaïves. After the additional financing in 2008, the project supported similar interventions in other departments.

The non-structural interventions focused on strengthening the institutional capacity of the Directorate of Civil Protection and the Permanent Secretariat for Disaster Risk Management as well supporting local risk management. At the local level, the Bank’s supported the Government’s efforts to move from the ad-hoc nature of community engagement in disaster response and preparedness towards a more productive systematic approach to community engagement. The Bank used the community driven development approach to establish communal civil protection committees and implement small-scale risk mitigation works.

Results

The main results achieved include the following:

Community-level disaster preparedness and response capacity strengthened through the establishment, training and equipping of 76 community civil protection committees.

Communal civil protection committees, covering approximately 1.3 million people. These committees played a crucial role in receiving and assisting displaced people from the capital after the January 2010 earthquake, and have facilitated the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the international community.

Institutional and technical entities supporting the national disaster risk management system strengthened and operational, including the capacity to manage disaster preparation and response activities better.

Approximately 130 small disaster mitigation works successfully implemented.

Bank Group Contribution

Following the clearance of arrears in early 2005, the Government was ready to receive support. The Emergency Recovery and Disaster Management Project was the first Bank funded project prepared since 1997. The total cost of the project was US$19.4 million; US$12.0 million under the original project and US$7.4 million under the additional financing approved in 2008. This funding was distributed among reconstruction and risk reduction in areas affected by floods, institutional strengthening and local risk management.

Partners

There was a close and strong collaboration with other development partners supporting the disaster risk management agenda in Haiti, in particular with United Nations Development Programme, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, and the European Union, which ensured their efforts were complementary. These partnerships exploited synergies among partners and avoided duplication of efforts. Moreover, the project’s convening role and close partnerships provided an important framework that is expected to continue to guide multilateral engagement in the disaster risk management area.

Moving Forward

A new grant aims to consolidate gains in the area of local risk management and institutional strengthening. The approval of this grant has allowed for a smooth transition and ensured continued support to the communal civil protection committees established by the project. The Bank is also strengthening the national policy dialogue to advocate for a stronger Civil Protection Directorate (DPC) and to support the reform of the national disaster risk management system, while exploring ways to integrate disaster risk management in an upcoming development policy operation.

Beneficiaries

The project’s main beneficiaries were the people affected by the 2004 floods. Residents of the affected regions of Belle-Anse, Fonds-Verrettes and Gonaïves benefited from the rehabilitation of affected public infrastructure. The project also targeted the communities where communal civil protection committees were established and government staff were working with the project implementing agencies.

76

community civil protection committees were established, trained and equipped.

follow us

newsletter

You have clicked on a link to a page that is not part of the beta version of the new worldbank.org. Before you leave, we’d love to get your feedback on your experience while you were here. Will you take two minutes to complete a brief survey that will help us to improve our website?

Feedback Survey

Thank you for agreeing to provide feedback on the new version of worldbank.org; your response will help us to improve our website.

What was the purpose of your visit to worldbank.org today?

Did the layout and navigation of the new site help you locate what you were looking for?
Yes
No

Do you have any other feedback on the new version of our website? (Optional)

If you are willing to be contacted in the future to help us improve our website, please leave your email address below.

Which of the following best describes your career field or organization?
Student
Academic/Professor
Government Employee
Media Organization
Multilateral Organization
NGO or Nonprofit
Private Sector Firm
World Bank Group
Other

How often do you visit the World Bank website?
This is my first time
Daily
About once a week
About once a month
Every six months or less often

Thank you for participating in this survey! Your feedback is very helpful to us as we work to improve the site functionality on worldbank.org.